singley.org > blog archives > Wearing My Opinions on My Sleeve, Literally 02.19.2003

I was on a mission tonight. For weeks, I've been looking for anti-war buttons and while finding some online, I thought it was a bit silly to pay $4 shipping on a $1 pin. So this evening I went south about a mile to the "alternative" shopping area of Chicago around Belmont and Clark Street. Just as I got off the train, I saw a young man reading the paper and wearing a blue "No War" button. As I approached to ask where he got it, I realized he was one of my French TAs from Freshman or Sophomore year of college. He said he didn't know where to buy the buttons, but his friend who gave him his also gave him an extra "in case anyone asked where he got it." How about that? Ten seconds into my mission, and it was a success. But, I still wanted to find a source to buy buttons for other people and also so I could have an answer when other liberal-types asked me where I got my button.

Ok, this is not very interesting so far, I know. I'm getting to the point. As I went from one alterno store to the next, I thought the reactions I got to the question "do you have any anti-war buttons?" were telling. The vast majority of people looked at me in a way that implied that they had no idea that war with Iraq is most likely only weeks away. Granted, my casual observation of six or seven young people is not overly indicitive of the sentiments of the general population, but I'm wondering if most people don't care or don't know about Iraq. I recalled a friend who said he encountered a group of 25-30 college students who had no idea we were so close to war. When I was a student, I, too, probably had only a very vague idea of what was happening more than two miles from my dorm.

Most people care about things that affect them. While I feel strongly that the short-sighted opinions of our government could have catastrphic affects on Americans in the future, most people care much, much more about a murder happening on their street than one happening on the streets of Bagdhad. I'm not saying this is right, but it is reality.

I walked home past a house where a small crowd had gathered on the sidewalk. On the steps were a team of bulky men in bulletproof vests with "ATF" written on the back. Most likely, drugs were found in the average-looking two-story home in yuppie northern Chicago. The neighbors on the street looked on with genuine concern, which is not an expression typically seen as they read in the Tribune that thousands of US troups are being sent overseas to ensure our safety at home. People care about things they can see, that they can tell their friends they saw and do things to guard against.

I'm not trying to argue for a lack of interest or awareness in our foreign policy. I am, however, saying that people are more concerned with the slumping economy and with threats of domestic terrorism than with war in Iraq. Our president knows this all too well, which is why he feels the need to scare people into supporting a war against Saddam Hussein. While I believe we should be involved in solving some of the problems of the Middle East, scaring often-uninformed people about the implications of war is not the solution. It is dishonest and unfair and perhaps worst of all, causes Americans to disregard the more immediate, more dangerous domestic decisions being made by Bush and his cabinet.

(Side note: I talked to one very helpful young woman who told me that anti-war buttons can be purchased in Chicago here and also here.)

Good post, Eric. I remember my freshman year of college being completely oblivious to the outside world: no radio, no tv, no magazines, no newspapers. It was pretty great in an isolationist kind of way, but ironic when you consider the pervasive stereotyp of the protest-happy college student.

Nice Eric. Not only are people more concerned with domestic terrorism, but they are even more concerned with "American Idol" and the such. If you haven't already read the article in the New Yorker about Kofi Annan, i would highly suggest it. Do you remember "Desert Fox" in 1998. I don't.